In modern liquid processing systems heat treatment is often desirable for making the final product stable during subsequent processing and storage. Such heat treatment, i.e. pasteurization, is normally performed by heating the liquid product to an elevated temperature, which temperature is sufficient to at least prevent microbial growth in the liquid product, as well as keeping the liquid product at that particular temperature for a specific period of time before the liquid product is cooled.
In liquid food processing it is a well known fact that excessive heat load on the food product should be avoided, since heat treatment of the food product may affect the food product negatively, e.g. by causing losses in vitamin and mineral content. At the same time it is critical to ensure sufficient heat load for not jeopardizing food safety. Therefore it is of major importance to control the heating as well as the subsequent cooling of the food product during such heat treatment.
Therefore, it has been suggested to continuously monitor the pasteurization process with respect to the temperature of the liquid product. By fetching real-time values of this parameter the quality of the current pasteurization process may be determined and analysed for ensuring the desired degree of pasteurization.
It has also been suggested to continuously monitor the pasteurization process with respect to the heating time of the liquid product. By fetching real-time values of this parameter the quality of the current pasteurization process may be determined and analysed for ensuring the desired degree of pasteurization.
Since pasteurization is very energy consuming it would be advantageous to reduce the pasteurization temperature and/or pasteurization time. However, in e.g. food processing industry food safety is a major concern why such reduction in temperature may never be allowed if the quality of the food product is at risk.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved pasteurization system allowing for such reduction in temperature and/or time without jeopardizing the quality of the liquid product.